


And The Snow Kept Falling

by InkRanOut



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Gen, Heavy Angst, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 09:00:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16720323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkRanOut/pseuds/InkRanOut
Summary: An unfortunate event leads to the twins realizing just how much they care about each other. But is it perhaps too late for that?





	And The Snow Kept Falling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Renkocchi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Renkocchi/gifts).



> Happy birthday, Anastasia!! <3
> 
> This fic turned out a lot darker than I would've liked it to, but I hope you can enjoy it nonetheless.  
> But yeah, if you're not in the mood for something dark, you might want to put it aside for now. Your feelings come first. <3
> 
> I love you!~

It started like a normal winter afternoon.  
The twins had gone hunting in the forest near a cliff, alone, just like they did every year on their birthday.

It was like some kind of contest between the two. Whoever returned home bearing more dead prey than the other was the winner.

The atmosphere was always slightly tense during that time, but both the twins loved it for that reason. They loved the adrenaline that came with going against an opponent of the same level.  
Every year, it was their birthday gift to each other.

So when did things go wrong, you ask?  
It was just that one instant. It took them both a while to comprehend what was going on.  
Ruffnut slipped, and before she knew it, found herself falling down the cliff.

And of course she had tried her best to hold on. In order to support herself, Ruffnut went to grab whatever was nearest to her at the time; her brother, that is.

The wet, snow-covered ground they stood on did nothing to help them stay on their feet, and in a split second the twins found themselves falling down the rugged mountainside.

And all they could think as they fell was that from this height, the thick layer of snow covering the ground would do little to ease their fall.

And they were right.

Ruffnut blacked out immediately upon meeting the hard ground, and woke up a while later to her brother's moans of pain.

She tried to get up, but her whole body seemed to protest, and even the slightest movement gave her unbearable pain.  
For the time being, she just stopped moving altogether.

"Ugh..." Ruffnut's voice was hoarse and quiet. "You alive?"  
Despite having landed with her back turned towards him, it still wasn't hard to guess the answer to her question with all the noise her brother was making, but it still made her feel better to talk to him.

When he heard her voice, Tuffnut gasped loudly, as if he couldn't getting air in his lungs fast enough.  
"Oh, Ruff- Thank the gods, you're alive!"

"For the most part." Ruffnut groaned, examining her legs; she couldn't tell where it hurt exactly, the pain had all bled into one big mess, but she was certain that at least one of them was broken somewhere. "Can you get up?"

"Not any more than you can, no," Tuffnut said, shaking his head -nevermind that his sister couldn't see it.

"Hey, sis... What do we do now?"

She paused. "I don't know."

Silence followed.  
It didn't last that long, but the agony made it feel like a whole lifetime.

Ruffnut looked around her, as much as her current position would allow, searching for the lanterns they had been given before leaving home.  
She spotted them quickly enough, having landed a few meters away from them.

The flame in the one she had been carrying had already gone out -even before it met the ground, in fact.  
Tuffnut's lived on.  
But it was too far for them to reach, she realized.

Ruffnut averted her gaze, deciding that dwelling on it wasn't worth her energy; this tiny lantern might have been bright, but it would never be enough to warm two people up.

"I guess we... have to try going back up," Tuffnut said quietly, interrupting her thoughts.

His big effort to keep himself from crying was obvious in his voice; it was high-pitched, and almost his every sentence was accompanied by heavy breathing. Ruffnut could hear it quite clearly and, frankly, wanted to avoid talking much for the same reason.

Everything hurt so much. The fear and worry they felt for each other and for themselves didn't make it any better.  
But they couldn't give up now. In this kind of weather, giving up would mean death.

Every second was precious; they had to return home before the unforgiving cold took over their limbs completely. Ruffnut was already having trouble moving her fingers, and Tuffnut had a headache that just kept getting worse.  
They really, really had to get up.

Ruffnut tried going first. It took a lot of effort to move even a little, but she finally managed to turn around and face her brother.  
That was the easy part.

"Hey," Tuffnut muttered, unimpressed. "Any progress over there?"

Ruffnut showed him a cheeky grin; she would make that expression a lot while they were competing and, even now, it indicated something that looked almost like confidence.

This time, however, it was twisted with pain. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and there was sweat on her forehead. The smile, too, looked forced. Panic was evident in her eyes.

This challenging expression of hers used to make Tuffnut pretty excited about competing against his sister.  
But looking at her like this, it never even crossed his mind.

It was very clear that this was no longer a contest, no longer a game.

"Just you wait," Ruffnut muttered stubbornly as a reply to what she knew was a rhetorical question, her words followed by a muffled groan as she tried to place her weight on her palms in order to sit up.

All kinds of thoughts and images crossed her mind as she put all of her strength on her arms and pushed.  
Her friends. Her family.  
Her dragons. Her home.  
Her brother.  
She couldn't afford to lose them. They had to return back at all costs.  
That's all she could think about.

And somehow, she made it; she sat, slowly pushing herself up with her knees. But that's about as far as she got.  
From the knees down, her legs wouldn't move, and she just stayed like that, her very bones shaking under her own weight.  
She had gone too far to allow herself to fall back on the ground again, but keeping this up only exhausted her...

She was bound to give in to the pain eventually. She was going to find herself back on the ground in no time.  
Getting up again would be useless.

Ruffnut blinked; she could very clearly see a picture of herself, laying on the cold ground, awaiting death.  
And then another one made its way into her head; she saw herself on the ground once again, but this time she was not breathing.  
Tuffnut laid next to her, lifeless.  
A drop of sweat slid down her nose. Her arms were shaking like crazy.

Then, suddenly, her body felt lighter.

"I got you, Ruff," she heard her brother's voice, who was now laying next to her, leaning on his elbows and using all of his strength to support her.  
Ruffnut had no stamina left, and she knew that Tuffnut was most likely the only thing keeping her from falling on her back.

"Even I can tell that we can't climb back up like this," Tuffnut continued, his voice gentler than ever, "but I remember that this mountain turns into a hill in around two hundred meters from here. We can crawl all the way there and then go up the hill."

Ruffnut had a look at his expression and immediately knew he was determined to pull this off, positive they would both make it back alive.  
She didn't know which of the two was more badly injured, but seeing her brother appear so confident made her want to believe it too.

She nodded, now sharing that spark of determination in his eyes.

Tuffnut showed her his fist. She smiled and weakly bumped her own against it.

They were going to pull this off and go back home, no matter what.  
They were going to live.

Slowly, the two turned around and lay on their stomachs, nodding to each other before beginning to move.  
Tuffnut even managed to retrieve his lantern first, in order to lead the way in front of his apparently more seriously injured sister.

Ignoring the pain, grip strong and firm on the ground, they started crawling towards the low end of the mountain.

The twins stopped many times on the way, both exhausted and their muddy fingers bleeding, partly frozen from the cold.  
But they would always keep going a few moments later.

It was about halfway through when Ruffnut stopped for good.

"What's the matter, Ruff?" Tuffnut breathed, his face easily giving away the fact that he was fearing the worst.  
"I'm fine," she replied flatly, despite being apparently out of breath. "Just give me a... a second." She did her best to fake a smile.

Tuffnut hadn't realized that he had been holding his breath up until that moment.

"Okay. Just tell me when you're ready," he told her, failing to conceal his big effort not to frown.

Tuffnut gave one last concerned look Ruffnut's way, then turned his head forward, towards their destination.  
They were close, enough so that he could easily distinguish the foot of the mountain, even through the fog.  
So close. So close.  
They would have to go up, and then continue until they reached an inhabited area to seek help.  
It had already gotten dark.

"I'm ready," Ruffnut announced, but there was uncertainty in her voice.  
"Let's go," Tuffnut replied, just as hesitant.

He wanted to believe, he really did. Because at a time like this, he just couldn't afford not to.

But for how much longer was he going to be able to pretend that they'd almost made it, when his sister was clearly weakened to the point of not being able to go on?

He couldn't help but feel partly responsible their situation was so helpless; he was the one who had talked about hope when obviously there was none.

And Ruffnut's conscience wasn't any clearer; she was the one who fell, and took Tuffnut with her. He would've survived, had it not been for her.  
He should've survived.

Ruffnut squeezed her eyes and put all of her strength into moving forward.  
But when she opened them, she was still there.  
Exhausted. Powerless.  
Stuck.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I can't."

Tuffnut felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest at the sound of the words he knew he should've expected.

"It's okay, bro," Ruffnut continued, sniffing audibly as she did her best to hold back her tears -which apparently still wasn't enough. "You go get some help. I'll be... waiting here." She faked a smile, this time looking at him in the eyes. "It's gonna be fine."

No. That was a lie.  
She was already at her limit, Tuffnut knew that.  
There was a possibility he could make it back. But there was just no way Ruffnut would be able to hold on that long in her state.  
Heck, she couldn't even move.

In every scenario it was either just one of them, or neither making it back alive.

Tuffnut gulped before he spoke. "Sis, I- I..." He stuttered. "I can't leave you here."

He furrowed his brows and his lips formed a faint smile. The tone of his voice changed.  
"I- I mean... this is no place for a Thorston to die, right? Didn't dad say we have to either die in battle, fighting a dragon, or not at all?"

He chuckled nervously. "I mean, that was a long time ago, I guess the dragon part is no longer relevant... but he still wouldn't approve of you dying here."  
He paused to breathe.  
"What about Barf and Belch? Are you going to let me look after them all by myself? You know Barf only listens to you."  
His voice cracked.  
"I won't be able to ride them alone. So you have to come back with me."

Ruffnut gathered what little strength she had left to place her freezing hand that she could barely control by now on her brother's shoulder.  
It wasn't exactly to comfort him, and it wasn't a gesture meant to cut him off either.  
It was just physical contact.

"I don't want to say goodbye either," she said, her voice quiet and fragile. "But I can't go on, and you can't stay here... I need you to go back to the others. And when you do, give everyone a good punch on the shoulder from me, will you? After all..." Her voice was but a whisper now. "...it's my birthday..."

Tuffnut was visibly crying now. They both were.  
It began to snow.

Ruffnut's eyelids started to become heavier and heavier, until she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.  
She no longer responded to her brother's panicked cries.

And all Tuffnut could do as the tears streamed down his cheeks was watch the small, gentle clouds of breath that left his sister's mouth as she exhaled, waiting for them to eventually stop and disappear completely.

Ruffnut had asked him to keep going, but how could he?  
There was nowhere else he could go. Not back home, not anywhere.  
Because there was no home if she wasn't there.

"Hey..." He took her hand in his, carefully, as if holding a delicate flower. "Hey, Ruff..."  
There was no reply. Tuffnut chuckled quietly, desperately.  
"You can't do this... we'd agreed that death is not a valid way to exit the game... and last year you promised you'd definitely beat me..."

He stared down at her, blankly. She was barely moving.  
He didn't say anything after that.

He knew he had to go quickly, while he could still move, but it felt like all the energy had drained from his body.  
At this point he wasn't sure if it was due to the injuries and the cold, or just lack of will.  
It didn't matter.

Tuffnut kept watching the cloud of breath that left Ruffnut's mouth.  
It was still steady enough. For how long, Tuffnut didn't know, but it was comforting to know she was still there as they both quietly passed to the other side.

That's when he noticed it, somewhere in the distance; light. A tiny spark of godsent light.  
He stared at it, and then at his miraculously still-breathing sister. Then at the light.

A lantern. Oh, gods, a lantern. Somebody was coming their way!

Tuffnut grabbed his own lantern, which thankfully he had decided to hold onto despite being tempted to leave it behind more than once on the way, and waved it in the air wearily.

The light didn't move, at first.

Tuffnut squeezed his sister's hand, which he hadn't let go of for a second.

A moment passed. His breath caught in his throat as he watched in silence.

The light waved back.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed that!~ I love you, sweetie. <3


End file.
